Weekly Wrap-Up - North Division (Week 9)
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Syracuse continues to roll, Binghamton continues to struggle, and a few teams found themselves on the right - and wrong - end of a comeback. The latest from the North Division Notebook.
Belleville Senators
Record this week: 1-1-1
An even split for the Senators this week, with one win and 48 seconds short of getting four out of six points.
The week started with a 3-2 overtime win over Laval at home on Wednesday. After taking a 2-1 lead into the final period off goals by Colin White and Jim O’Brien, the Senators would give up the tying goal to the Rocket with 11:59 left in regulation. Jack Rodewald would pick up the game winner just 52 seconds into overtime. Andrew Hammond stopped 31 of 33 shots in the win.
In front of a sold out home crowd on Friday, Belleville would drop a 3-1 decision to Toronto. Francis Perron had the lone Senator goal, while Danny Taylor had 20 saves.
Saturday in Syracuse, the Senators looked to be on the verge of ending the Crunch winning streak, up 4-3 on goals from Filip Chlapik, White, the recently re-acquired Chris DiDomenico, and Nick Paul, with less than a minute to go. But, Syracuse would score with 48 seconds remaining and go on to win 5-4 in a 7 round shootout. White would be the only Senator skater to connect in the bonus round.
Sens Notes: Thomas Chabot was once again recalled to Ottawa, just two days after returning to Belleville; after losing DiDomenico on waivers to Tampa Bay the week before, Ottawa reclaimed him after Tampa had waived him, then sent him to Belleville; the Senators have a very light schedule upcoming, only hosting Syracuse on Saturday night.
Binghamton Devils
Record this week: 1-2
Another struggle this week for last place Binghamton, who would also lose one of their top scorers to a trade.
The Devils would snap out of their slump on Wednesday night with a 3-0 win in Allentown against the Phantoms. Ken Appleby would stop all 25 shots in his first shutout of the season. Kevin Rooney and Jacob MacDonald each had a goal and an assist, while Joe Blandisi had a goal in what would become his final Devils appearance, as he was traded to Anaheim the following morning as part of the Sami Vatanen/Adam Henrique deal.
Binghamton would head east to Rhode Island on Friday to start a two game set with the Bruins, and would drop the first game 3-2. MacDonald had another goal and assist, while Nick Lappin scored his 11th of the season on a third period power play.
Providence would finish off the two game sweep on Saturday with a 4-2 win. Just like on Friday, MacDonald and Lappin would provide the offense with one goal and one assist each.
Devil Notes: Forward Tim Kennedy returned to the lineup on Friday for his first appearance since November 11th due to injury; Ryan Kujawinski also returned to the lineup after being out nearly a month; MacDonald ranks second among AHL defensemen in scoring (21 pts), first in goals (9), and tied for first in power play goals (5); after a trip to Laval on Wednesday, the Devils return home for a pair of weekend games, hosting Syracuse Friday and Charlotte Saturday.
Laval Rocket
Record this week: 1-1-1-0
It was a little bit of everything this week for Laval, finishing off the week on a high note.
The Rocket traveled to Belleville on Wednesday, and despite goals from Daniel Carr and Chris Terry, they would lose 3-2 to the Senators in overtime. Laval’s next stop was Syracuse on Friday, where they would drop a 2-1 decision to the Crunch. Chris Terry had the lone Rocket goal, while Charlie Lindgren would stop 31 of 33 shots.
Saturday in Allentown, the Rocket would find themselves down 3-1 to the Phantoms with just over 4 and a half minutes remaining in regulation. But thanks to goals by Adam Cracknell and Jeremy Gregoire, Laval would force overtime, then finish off the comeback with an overtime winning goal by Cracknell 4-3.
Rocket Notes: A few roster moves this week: Carr was recalled to Montreal, Cracknell was acquired from the New York Rangers for Peter Holland, and goaltender Zachary Fucale was reassigned to ECHL Brampton; defenseman Matt Taormina is tied for the AHL lead in power play points (14) and leads the league in power play assists (12); the Rocket will spend next week at home, hosting Binghamton on Wednesday before taking in Toronto for a pair Friday and Saturday.
Rochester Americans
Record this week: 1-0-1-1
Good news: Rochester earned points in all three games this week. Bad: Two blown leads kept them from going 3-0.
The Amerks would travel east to Utica on Wednesday night, and would carry a 1-0 lead into the final period on a goal from Garret Ross, his second of the season. But Rochester would give up the tying goal in the third then drop a 2-1 decision in overtime to the Comets. One fun fact from this contest? The Amerks never made a single trip to the penalty box, but were 0 for 4 on the power play.
On Friday night at home against Hartford, Rochester took a 4-3 lead into the third on goals from Ross, Evan Rodrigues, Seth Griffith, and Steve Moses. But the Wolfpack would tie it with 4:23 to go in regulation, then take the game 5-4 in a shootout. C.J. Smith was the lone Amerk skater out of five rounds to score in the bonus round.
Saturday, the Amerks traveled into Wilkes-Barre and would dominate the Penguins 5-2. Rodrigues would score twice and assist on another, Smith added one goal and two assists, while nine other skaters registered at least one point. Goaltender Linus Ullmark stopped 22 of 24 shots in the win.
Amerk Notes: Griffith and defenseman Matt Tennyson cleared waivers and were sent down by Buffalo this week; Ullmark got a quick callup for practice before returning to Rochester; forward Hudson Fasching was recalled on Saturday; the Amerks head to New England for a 3 in 3 weekend along the Interstate 91/95 corridor, traveling to Springfield, Hartford, and Bridgeport.
Syracuse Crunch
Record this week: 3-0
Despite all the personnel issues with injuries and recalls, the Crunch continue to roll along, extending their winning streak to six. Syracuse’s win streak would be extended to four games with a 3-1 win in Toronto on Wednesday night. Goaltender Louis Domingue would get the win with 27 saves on 28 shots. Cory Conacher, Kevin Lynch, and Chris DiDomenico would all have goals.
Back home on Friday night against Laval, Matthew Peca would score the go ahead goal in the third period as Syracuse would hang on to defeat the Rocket 2-1. Another strong outing from Domingue, as he stopped 24 of 25 Laval shots.
On Saturday, with their top scorer and a veteran blueliner off to Tampa and ECHL reinforcements in, the Crunch found themselves in a back and forth battle against Belleville. Down 4-3 late in the third period, Adam Erne’s third goal of the season with 48 seconds remaining in regulation would force overtime. In the shootout round, it took 7 skaters -and newly called up Ty Loney - to finish the job, as his goal would prove to be the 5-4 shootout winner. Mat Bodie would add a goal and an assist in the win.
Crunch Notes: Defenseman Daniel Walcott is out indefinitely after a lower body injury Wednesday against Toronto; the Crunch swapped defensemen with their ECHL affiliate Adirondack, signing Mathieu Brodeur to a PTO and sending down rookie Matthew Spencer; Cory Conacher and Jamie McBain were recalled to Tampa on Saturday, with McBain returning to the Crunch on Sunday; forward Chris DiDomenico was lost to Ottawa after being waived by Tampa on Friday, with the intention of extending his stint with Syracuse; with Dennis Yan also getting hurt, Syracuse recalled Spencer, Shane Conacher, and Loney from Adirondack before Saturday’s contest; the Crunch hit the road for the week, visiting Utica, Binghamton, and Belleville.
Toronto Marlies
Record this week: 2-1
Toronto may have fallen down, but they get right back up and continue to roll, winners of 9 out of their last 10 games.
The winning streak would come to a halt on Wednesday, with a 3-1 home loss to Syracuse. Frederik Gauthier had the lone goal.
The Marlies would jump right back into the win column with a 3-1 victory over Belleville on the road Friday night. Dmytro Timashov would score twice, Chris Mueller would add two helpers, and Calvin Pickard would stop 24 of 25 shots in the win.
Back at home on Saturday afternoon, Toronto would find themselves down 3-1 early in the third period against Hartford. But thanks to two Trevor Moore goals in 3:44, the Marlies would comeback and win 4-3 in overtime after a Timashov game winner 2:56 into the extra frame.
Marlies Notes: Toronto’s .783 points percentage is tops in the AHL, just .033 ahead of Manitoba; Sparks and Pickard rank second and fifth, respectively, in the league in goals against average, Sparks at 1.64 and Pickard 1.90. They also rank second and fourth in save percentage; Toronto is 12-2 in North Division play; the Marlies head to Quebec this weekend with a pair of games against Laval.
Utica Comets
Record this week: 2-0-1
It was quite a roller coaster week for Utica, as they needed overtime in all three games this week.
The Comets began the week with a comeback win over Thruway rival Rochester. Down 1-0 entering the third period on Wednesday at the Adirondack Bank Center, Utica would tie the game up on a Jayson Megna shorthanded goal with 12:22 to go in regulation. Reid Boucher would get the game winner 89 seconds into overtime to complete the 2-1 comeback victory.
In the wildest game of the week in the division, the Comets had a very high scoring, back and forth affair with Bridgeport that would ultimately end in a 7-6 Sound Tiger last second - as in 8 seconds remaining- overtime victory. Boucher lead all skaters with two goals and two assists. Michael Chaput would score twice, while Zack MacEwen had two helpers.
Saturday, the two teams would reconvene, but in southern Connecticut. The Comets appeared to be on the verge of losing a polar opposite of Friday’s game, down 1-0 with less than a minute remaining. But a Joseph LaBate goal with 19 seconds left would force overtime. In the shootout round, Boucher and Michael Carcone would both connect, while Thatcher Demko would stop 4 of 5 as Utica finished off a Bridgeport sweep 2-1.
Comets Notes: Forward Cam Darcy traded in his PTO for a AHL contract on Thursday; with an injury to Richard Bachman, goaltender Michael Garteig was recalled from ECHL Kalamazoo; Boucher has four goals in his last five games, and his 22 points put him in the AHL top 10 in scoring; the Comets host Syracuse on Wednesday, then head to Rhode Island for a weekend 2 game series with Providence.
North Division Standings as of December 4th, 2017
Toronto: 23 GP, 18-5-0-0, 36 points, .783 pct Rochester: 22 GP, 12-5-3-2, 29 points, .659 pct Utica: 21 GP, 10-9-1-1, 22 points, .524 pct Syracuse: 22 GP, 10-9-1-2, 23 points, .523 pct Laval: 24 GP, 10-9-3-2, 25 points, .521 pct Belleville: 24 GP, 10-11-0-3, 23 points, .479 pct Binghamton: 21 GP, 7-11-3-0, 17 points, .405 pct
This Week's North Division Schedule
Wednesday, December 6th
Binghamton @ Laval, 7:00 PM Syracuse @ Utica, 7:00 PM
Friday, December 8th
Syracuse @ Binghamton, 7:05 PM Rochester @ Springfield, 7:05 PM Toronto @ Laval, 7:30 PM
Saturday, December 9th
Toronto @ Laval, 3:00 PM Syracuse @ Belleville, 7:00 PM Charlotte @ Binghamton, 7:05 PM Utica @ Providence, 7:05 PM Rochester @ Hartford, 7:30 PM
Sunday, December 10th
Rochester @ Bridgeport, 3:00 PM Utica @ Providence, 3:05 PM
